Live updates

The mother of murdered Leeds University student Meredith Kercher said she was "surprised and very shocked" by an Italian court's decision to overturn the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

The decision by the supreme Court of Cassation is the final ruling in the case, ending the long legal battle waged by Ms Knox and her ex-boyfriend.

Ms Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her bedroom in 2007 while studying in Perugia, Italy.

Arline Kercher, Meredith's mother, said she had heard little more about the decision other than the verdict.

She told the Press Association: "(I am) a bit surprised, and very shocked, but that is about it at the moment.

"They have been convicted twice so it's a bit odd that it should change now."

Asked whether she had any plans following the ruling, she said: "I really don't know at the moment, I haven't got any plans."

An Italian court has overturned the conviction of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of Leeds University student Meredith Kercher.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have been cleared of the murder of Leeds University student Meredith Kercher

The decision by the supreme Court of Cassation is the final ruling in the case, ending the long legal battle waged by Ms Knox and her ex-boyfriend.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old from Coulsdon, Surrey, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her bedroom in 2007 while studying in Perugia, Italy.

Her flatmate Ms Knox, a student from Seattle in the US, and Mr Sollecito spent four years in jail for the murder but were acquitted on appeal in 2011.

Ms Knox returned to the US before an appeal court threw out the acquittal and reinstated her and Mr Sollecito's guilty verdicts last year.

But Italy's highest court today overturned last year's convictions and declined to order another trial.

Ms Knox, who is now 27, awaited for the verdict in her hometown of Seattle. Her Italian former boyfriend Mr Sollecito, 30, had his travel documents seized while
the court proceedings were ongoing.

The judges will release the reasons for their decision within 90 days after concluding that a conviction could not be supported by the evidence.

Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca said earlier this week: "The interest of the family is to arrive to the end of this trial. They want to be able to remember Meredith outside of the court room."

Ms Knox said last year she would become a "fugitive" if convicted and would have to be taken back "kicking and screaming" to Italy.

Last month, she announced her engagement to 27-year-old musician and school friend Colin Sutherland, who wrote to her while she was in jail.

Meredith Kercher's killer Raffaele Sollecito has insisted crucial evidence was ignored as he again protested his innocence.

Raffaele Sollecito Credit: Press Association

Sollecito and former girlfriend Amanda Knox were reconvicted of murdering the 21-year-old former Leeds student in the Italian town of Perugia in 2007 last month following a second trial.

But courts failed to properly examine evidence from a bloody footprint found at the murder scene, he claims.

Last month Knox, who did not attend her second trial, was sentenced to 28 years and six months while Sollecito was jailed for 25 years.

The pair were originally found guilty of murder in 2009, and were handed jail terms totalling more than 50 years before being cleared two years later. The appeal court went on to order a fresh trial in March last year.

In an exclusive interview, Amanda Knox has told Daybreak she is 'not the person the prosecution says I am." She confirmed that she would not be returning to Italy for the retrial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

Speaking to ITV News from the family home in Coulsdon in south London, Meredith Kercher's sister Stephanie said:

We welcome the news in the sense that we hope to find the answers. We are never going to be happy about any outcome because we have still lost Meredith but we obviously support the decision and hope to get answers from it.

There are still so many unanswered questions, all we have ever wanted to do is do what we can for Meredith and to find out the truth of what happened that night.

Rudy Guede's conviction was on the basis that there was more than one person there so that is something that needs to be looked into.